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Home , Arcade (architecture), Power center (retail), Shopping mall, Strip mall, Suburban Square

The Changing Design of Places

From the palatial department SHOPPING IS an interaction between a marketing strategy and the store to the no-frills power design of the shopping place. The envi- ronment is an integral part of the center, design plays a key role equation, as important as the way that goods are marketed. Sometimes changes in retailing environments. in shopping are driven by environmental innovations, sometimes by innovations in strategy, and sometimes innovations occur in both realms at once. The only constant is change, for retailing, more than other sector of commercial real estate, is particu- larly susceptible to fashion. Whatever attracts consumers one year may repel them the next.

WITOLD RYBCZYNSKI

34 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER ARCADES AND GALLERIES the glass roofs meant that shops usually sold expensive goods, and most arcades For centuries, the design of shops was rel- were located in fashionable districts such as atively static. Shops were small, usually Piccadilly. A number of arcades were built owner-operated, and though the shop- in American cities such as , window is a venerable device, displays of New York, , and Providence. goods inside the shop were minimal. In The grandest arcades, such as those in many cases, manufacturing occurred in a Berlin, , and , were referred back room. Since the shopkeeper generally to as galleries. Vittorio owned the , in which he also lived, Emanuele II in , built in 1865–67, a shoemaker’s shop or a bakery combined has an extremely tall and ornate interior, retail, workshop, and residential. There and a spectacular glass in the mid- was little scope for . dle. The Galleria functions particularly One of the first examples of retail prop- well because, as A. Alfred Taubman erty development is the glass-roofed observed in these pages (“Mall Myths,” , lined with shops, which originated WRER Spring 1998), the adjacent in European cities in the early 1800s. The Duomo functions as a “people pump.” first arcades were in Parisian passages, or Arcades and galleries are the ancestors narrow mid-block alleyways. The roofs, of the indoor , but they dif- resembling greenhouse roofs, were cast- fered in two important respects: their loca- iron structures covered in glass. Arcades tions were urban rather than suburban; were an ingenious real estate idea, since and they consisted of a variety of small they converted valueless space into prime shops—there were no anchor stores. rental property. The arcade drew shoppers off the by providing a sheltered but naturally lit space under the glass roof (it THE was also a handy short-cut, being open at each end). This was an era when the new- One of the earliest successful department fangled all-glass roof showed up in exhibi- stores was the Marble Palace, which tion halls such as Crystal Palace, railroad opened in New York City in 1846, across station terminals, and conservatories. So, the street from the city hall. The multi- arcades were both convenient and trendy. story building combined a number of developers copied the Parisian innovations. Unlike other stores, it did not arcades, but made them wider and often specialize but sold a large variety of goods two stories tall. The added cost of building organized in different “departments.” It

REVIEW 35 also had a policy of displaying prices, use of electric lighting in a public building which the ordinary shops did not do. This was in a Parisian department store. was calculated to attract a broad public, The department store— which was often intimidated by having to which later migrated to the — bargain with merchants or by needing to dominated retailing for about 100 years. know ahead of time the value of what they Through its imposing architecture it estab- were buying. The Marble Palace, as the lished an atmosphere of luxury and gentil- name suggested, was a grand building. ity, aimed primarily at women shoppers. There was a central space covered by a 90- Because it arrived in an era when individ- foot-tall dome and extremely large, plate- ual manufacturers did not advertise glass display windows on the street. nationally, the department store— The department stores built during the Wanamaker’s, Bloomingdale’s, Marshall second half of the nineteenth century were Field’s—became the name that consumers usually located downtown, often occupy- recognized and trusted. ing a full and rising many floors. Department stores were invented by This arrangement depended on a recent merchants, not by developers. But they technological invention: the (later played an important role in that quintes- augmented by ). This permitted sential merger of real estate development the various departments to be stacked one and retailing: the shopping mall. atop the other, creating a vast—and self- contained—shopping world. Like the arcade, the department store THE SHOPPING MALL spread internationally: to , which had some of the grandest examples; to Arcades, galleries, and department stores London; and to the other major European were urban phenomena, but after World cities. In America, merchandisers such as War II, new American communities were Marshall Field and John Wanamaker increasingly suburban. The earliest attempted to outdo each other in building American suburbs, which dated from the ever more impressive department stores, late 1800s, were purely residential. The which now included dining rooms, monu- residents had no choice but to go down- mental atriums, and in the case of town to shop, or to order from downtown Wanamaker’s flagship Philadelphia store, shops and department stores. Only belat- which opened in 1911, the world’s largest edly did suburban developers include organ. Nothing was too good—or too retailing spaces in their master plans, in the grand—for department stores. The first form of town centers or shopping villages.

36 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER Some of the earliest examples were occurred in 1956: the of the outside Kansas City, first completely indoor shopping mall in a on Philadelphia’s Main of . The architect, Line, and Square in Lake Forest, , specifically referred to north of . Milan’s Galleria as a , and many The earliest planned suburbs were rela- indoor malls incorporated glass roofs (and tively exclusive, but as suburbanization often two levels) in the manner of the became ubiquitous, the small shopping nineteenth-century arcades. The largest villages were replaced by larger and larger indoor shopping malls also drew from the retail complexes, now called shopping cen- tradition of the grand department store by ters, which included a number of shops, creating an atmosphere of luxury, with leased to merchants, as well as a fountains and water features, trees and lot. The first so-called regional shopping elaborate planting, and expensive finishes. center was Northgate, which opened in At this time, the standard mall design 1950 on a 60-acre site in suburban Seattle. was developed. It consisted of a two-level Not a mere town center, it drew from a mall, and parking lots that were sloped to wider area, as evidenced by its 4,000-car provide alternative access to the upper as . In addition to a , well as the lower levels. This meant that it included a movie theater, a bowling , the shopper could , walk one level and small shops, as well as a department down, and walk back to the car, shopping store to “anchor” the development. on the other floor. This arrangement Large suburban shopping centers like works only with two levels—adding a Northgate followed a formula: they were third story does not attract shoppers and built on inexpensive land on the outskirts merely increases the construction cost. of the city, usually near a major highway Parking structures were expensive to build interchange, they provided free parking, and were rarely economic propositions and they combined department stores (unless subsidized by public money). If with smaller shops. The formula worked. they were built, it was as a last resort, when In 1950 there were about 100 shopping space was at a premium. centers in the ; at the end of The challenge for mall developers was, the decade there were 3,700. The main first, how to attract the largest number of change in shopping centers was that they shoppers, and second, how to keep them became larger and larger, exceeding one in the mall. Mall developers expanded the million square feet of rentable space. range of tenants, including not only movie A significant design innovation theaters and restaurants, but also non-

REVIEW 37 retail uses such as banks, hotels, federal As Moy and Linneman point out else- and state offices, public libraries, health where in this issue, many shopping malls clubs, and medical centers. Some of the that once seemed invulnerable have been larger malls also integrated entertainment seriously challenged in the late 1990s. functions such as theme and water There were a number of reasons. parks, in a further attempt to make the Architectural complexity and luxurious mall a recreation destination. In the construction drove up costs. With more process, malls became ever larger, growing and more two-worker families, shoppers to 2, 3, and 4 million square feet, and in were more interested in convenience and the case of the West Mall, efficiency than in spending hours walking more than 5 million square feet. around in a huge shopping mall. Attempts to build shopping malls in Moreover, department stores, which had urban locations have generally failed been the chief draw for mall shoppers— (Chicago’s Michigan Avenue is a notable and bore little of the cost burden of the exception). The two chief advantages of mall—were faltering. Shoppers wanted suburban malls are easy access and inex- more choice than was offered by the pensive surface parking, which are both department store, and they wanted cheap- difficult to achieve in cramped urban loca- er prices. Thanks to national advertising in tions. The cost of urban land—and the the print media—and especially on televi- need for parking structures—pushed mall sion—consumers were attracted to indi- developers to build multi-story malls, vidual brand names rather than to the which have also proved to be problematic. middle-man merchant. Finally, as shop- The one form of urban mall that has been pers’ habits changed, the department store successful is the so-called festival market- seemed increasingly stuffy and old- place, pioneered by the Rouse fashioned. For now, instead of dealing Corporation. Festival are with sales clerks, shoppers preferred to usually located in a historic district, often serve themselves. on a waterfront, are contained in old (or new buildings that look old), and are specifically aimed at tourists. SELF-SERVICE Festival marketplaces are also smaller, do not have anchors, and usually include a Self-service came to American life first in heavy mix of local retailers, to provide the the form of the , which appeared degree of “authenticity” demanded by out- in the 1890s. Like the industrial assembly of-town visitors. line on which it was loosely based, the self-

38 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER service cafeteria emphasized convenience, carrier,” folded up when not in use to save efficiency, and speed. Self-service in retail space. The baskets—there were two of was first introduced in what came to be them—were taken off the cart at the cash known as the supermarket. The first super- register. Over the next decade, the shop- market is generally held to be a Piggly ping cart assumed its final shape, with a Wiggly store that was established in fixed basket, a sitting place for a young Memphis in 1916. The customer entered child, and a flap-front that allowed carts to through a turnstile at one end of the store, be nested inside each other for more com- picked up a basket, and, following a preset pact storage. route, passed by all the shelves of produce In the 1950s, it seemed that self-service and groceries. The end of the sequence was was merely applicable to grocery stores. a check-out counter. The self-service store But it turned out that the /shelving/ was manned by only two clerks. The con- cart/check-out counter combination was cept was invented by the owner, Clarence applicable to many types of merchandise. Saunders, who patented the idea. In a short time, self-service shopping Piggly Wiggly stores were operated as a would revolutionize retailing. franchise and became a great success, with 2,600 outlets in the South and Midwest. There were a number of competing chains, THE BIG BOX notably King Kullen, whose first store was opened in Queens, New York, in 1930. The big-box store—whether it is Wal- Michael Cullen added two important Mart or Target, which are really depart- ingredients to Saunders’ formula: he made ment stores, or a specialty store such as the stores much larger and he added park- Home Depot or Old Navy—is a direct ing lots. By the 1940s, major grocery descendent of the supermarket. It is a large chains such as A&P were shifting to the self-service operation. The consumer new supermarket format. pushes a cart up and down the , There is a third individual who looms where a large variety of goods is un- large in the evolution of self-service shop- dramatically displayed on utilitarian shelv- ping: Sylvan N. Goldman, the owner of an ing. The shopper collects the merchandise Oklahoma supermarket chain, who and exits via a check-out counter. The invented the shopping cart in 1936. Like focus is on increasing efficiency and most great inventions, the shopping cart decreasing shopping time, while at the seems obvious, but it took a long time to same time reducing overhead and provid- perfect. The first version, called a “basket ing the consumer with an extremely wide

REVIEW 39 range of choices at low prices. one box; if you want jeans for the kids, you Paradoxically, although all big-box stores go to another. The main synergy of power are self-service, the best-run merchandisers centers is shared parking, a shared shop- such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot also ping location identity, and convenient provide a high level of service, with more highway access. informed and helpful staff than most tra- There are two counter-trends to the ditional department stores. big-box and power-center format. The The design of a big-box store (the aver- internal organization of some big-box age size is 200,000 square feet) is a direct stores is moving away from its warehouse reaction to the shopping mall. It is a very roots and edging towards a department- plain box, basically a big, one-story steel store format to make shopping easier and frame warehouse built to the least expen- to reduce what some have called “big-store sive specifications: painted steel, function- fatigue.” There is also a small but growing al lighting, no attempt at decoration. This trend toward “smaller boxes”; that is, is the opposite of shopping-as-entertain- scaled-down versions of big-box stores, ment; it is shopping-as-serious-chore. The with an average size of 40,000 square feet. impression given to the shopper, which is Such stores offer a smaller range of choice, confirmed by the low prices, is that this is but they increase convenience to shoppers a business that is doing everything it can to who want to spend less time in the store. keep its costs to a minimum and to pass the savings on to the consumer. The big box has been so successful that THE FUTURE it has spawned another form of shopping environment: the . A power Shopping is driven by fashion, and the center consists of several big boxes (as few newest fashion in shopping environments as three, as many as a dozen), usually is the so-called town center (discussed in arranged around the perimeter of a mam- detail by Bohl elsewhere in this issue). moth parking lot. Unlike a shopping mall, Town centers resemble small-town main a power center has no common spaces— , with stores opening directly onto and few (if any) small shops. The big boxes outdoor . The buildings, general- are far apart, and if it’s necessary to go to ly small in scale and traditional in appear- more than one store, you drive. Unlike in ance, typically have two or three stories, a mall, shoppers are not directed or with retail below and or offices encouraged to visit more than one store. If above. Unlike a shopping mall, there are you want a big-screen television, you go to no anchor stores. The town center is a

40 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER hybrid: in design a throwback to the sub- . Town centers in the Northeast urban town center of the early 1900s, but and Midwest might have to incorporate a managed like a shopping mall, with a sin- modern version of the old arcade; that is, a gle developer who builds the project and sheltered space that is neither heated nor leases space to merchants and other air-conditioned. tenants. The name “town center” can be mis- The more elaborate architecture of leading. Some town centers have been town centers makes them expensive to built as part of master-planned communi- build compared to power centers, and ties, but many are stand-alone projects; in with mixed-uses they are inherently more either case they are obliged to draw from a complicated to develop, and riskier (hence regional rather than a local base—just like more expensive) to finance. On the other malls. Thus, the important question is hand, the outdoor format greatly reduces whether the town-center format itself will the operating cost compared to a conven- have the drawing power that the anchors tional indoor mall, since there are no com- provided in the past. So far, the answer mon areas requiring air conditioning and seems to be a qualified “yes,” if the town heating. As there are no anchors (which do center is located in a warm climate and in not pay rent in a mall), all the merchants an area of growing, younger residential pay real rent, which makes the economics suburbs. It is still too early to know if town attractive. centers are attractive economically in the Town centers turn the clock back to long run. pre–shopping-mall days; they ask shoppers There is obviously a place for town to trade the comfort of a fully enclosed centers in certain locations, just as there is shopping environment for the more tradi- for festival marketplaces in specific tourist tional pleasure of strolling in the open. cities, especially in waterside locations. This may not be as big a drawback as it However, the success of big (and small) first appears. In much of the Northeast, boxes and power centers, and the contin- the worst winter weather comes after the ued survival of the utilitarian , Christmas season, when sales normally suggests that, at least when they are shop- slow down anyway; and the worst summer ping, Americans currently place a higher weather—in August—coincides with value on convenience than on fun. another slow shopping period. However, it is notable that the most successful town centers have been built in mild-climate regions such as Florida and southern

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